At the Council at Jerusalem
in Acts 15, all the apostles and Church leaders met, along
with Paul and
Barnabas to decide how they should approach the Gentiles with the Gospel.
Most of the Jews wanted to
require the Gentiles to be circumcised and submit to the Mosaic Law. Paul,
among others was adamantly opposed to any requirement other than faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is by grace we are saved through faith, not the Law.
There were also many Jews who
did not think the Gentiles should even be a part of the Church. To them, the
Church was for the Jews only, and it must function under the Mosaic Law.
James, the Lord’s
half-brother, was head of the Jerusalem church and spoke as follows:
“When they finished, James
spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God
first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words
of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
“‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen
tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may
seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does
these things’ things known from long ago. “It is my judgment, therefore, that
we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” (Acts
15:13-19 emphasis mine)
After James finished, it was
decided that they would not require any Gentile to be circumcised, but only
asked that they, “… abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from
things strangled, and from sexual immorality…” (Acts 15:29)
The key point here is that
from the mouth of James, the Lord’s half-brother, it was recalled that God
would call to Himself a body of Gentiles. Therefore, the Gentiles would be
accepted into the Church. When the Church began at Pentecost it was 100%
Jewish. Several years later, Gentiles are becoming a part of the Church, and
were soon in the majority.
Notice in these verses above
that God is choosing a people for His name from among the Gentiles, the Church,
and after
this He will turn back to Israel.
Let us make one thing very
clear, the church did not replace Israel. Once the Church is complete,
the Rapture will occur. God will then return to Israel (Daniel’s 70th
week or Tribulation) to finish the remaining seven years they are owed from the
490 they were promised (Daniel 9).
So how close are we to God
removing the Church from the earth at the Rapture and returning to Israel? When
God is finished calling a people for Himself from among the Gentiles, Jesus
will remove the Church from the earth. Then He will turn back to Israel for the
final seven years.
Paul tells us, “I do not want
you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be
conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of
the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans 11:25) So obviously, there is a certain
number of Gentiles that will compose the Church, the body of Christ. Then the
body is complete. When that number is reached, Jesus will return for His bride.
It stands to reason, that if
we really want Jesus to return soon, then we should be witnessing to as many
folks as possible, because when that final number is reached, the Lord returns.
Obviously, that isn’t a very good reason to witness. We should witness because
we honestly care for the person. We don’t want them to leave this world lost.
We want them to enjoy the riches of being with the Lord for all eternity along
with us.
Apparently, no one but God
knows when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in,” so we should look at
it as continuing opportunities to share the greatest news the world could ever
hear.
We have the Good News of a
free gift from God (no strings attached), bought and paid for by His only
begotten Son. The gift of eternal life and adoption into the family of God is
ours if we just realize we are sinners and need to be saved, and then call upon
Jesus Christ through child-like faith to save our souls. It is in His death, burial
and resurrection our faith resides, not any works of our own. Only through Him
is the way to the Father.
As the body of Christ that is
nearly complete (in my opinion), we also need to build each other up in the
faith. We should pray for one another and encourage each other. Christians
should never be fighting among themselves. Can you imagine the chaos if your
hand wants to feed your stomach but your mouth won’t open because it’s pouting
about something? That makes as much sense as Christians giving other Christians
a hard time.
The Holy Spirit led the
apostle Paul to write about the body of Christ so that we might know that we
are part of that body when we believe upon Jesus Christ. You can read about
this in First Corinthians chapter twelve.
Also remember, that Jesus is
the head of the body, not me and not you. Sometimes we forget that. In the
meantime, we should nourish our body (the Church), encourage others to be a
part of His body, and look for His soon return. I don’t know when that will be,
but we do know it is imminent.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
